


The Shrieker

by Valkyrjan



Series: Norse Transformers Tales [4]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Discovery of a lie, Horror, OP humanformer version belongs to Crossbust, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Shrieker, TF/Norse Au, The Last Knight, Wounds, humanformer, mentions of whipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 13:19:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13147542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valkyrjan/pseuds/Valkyrjan
Summary: We are getting closer to our destination but we didn't get far before we encounter an unknown and terrifying foe neither I or my little companion have faced before. It's neither living... nor is it dead. Nevertheless, soon after the foe have vanished, I discover a shocking secret that Saga tries to hide from unwanted gazes.This is a gift to Crossbust in tumblr





	The Shrieker

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first attempt of practicing with humanformers and writing through one perspective point. It's my fic gift for Crossbust, an awesome TF artist in tumblr (yes, Optimus humanformer version is HIS, which I do love his version and wish to give some love to Crossbust's OP humanformer version but I don't claim him as mine!) I hope it's manangeable to enjoy it.

Midday moved to noon. The sun trailed its journey down to its end of day. It smelled like autumn in the air. The forests in the valleys between the mighty mountains were slowly losing their colorful leaves, making the ground fully covered in piles of leaves. Yet, I sensed winter was coming faster than I thought. I felt it in the air. The cold was coming from the north despite I didn’t know where we were. Our journey seemed never to end. My little companion stayed close to me while we wandered on without a break. After all, what we’d gone through remained fresh in our minds.

“Hmm, it seems we are still on the right road to Södr Reyoarholmar,” Saga spoke. She stood ahead of me, holding the Sunstone in her hands.

The map within the Sunstone showed several features; yellow for cities and villages, blue for rivers and lakes, orange for gateways and walls, green for woods and fields and red for spaceships. It’s highly advanced map showed our location inside a vast forest area between big mountains. The Sunstone was a gift we received by the dwarf blacksmiths, Sindré and Brókk.

“How close?” I asked, bending forward with my hands on my knees and panted in exhaustion. We’d been walking for hours since morning. I carried my sword and shield behind my shoulders. Carrying the weight for many hours had taken its toll for me. My whole shoulders, spinal cord and pelvis ached with tensed muscles.

“Hmm…” the child hummed in confusion as if she did not know how to estimate the distance range. “Maybe six or eight miles away. I’m not sure.”

“All right. I suggest we stop and take a short break,” I suggested to the child who looked on me. “Perhaps I can check how far the city is.”

“Maybe we get there faster if you turn into your wolf shape,” she replied with her suggestion.

_Wolf shape._

The words made me reminded over the curse I bore inside me. I cast a slight gaze on my right arm. The branded wound burned underneath my arm glove. It still hadn’t healed entirely yet to my frustration.

_Grídr,_ I thought on the name of the responsible one. Grídr, the Cybertronian sorceress. I hadn’t forgotten how she grabbed my arm and burned me there, which it led to she threw the spell of my curse. Then there was Angerboða’s words that Saga mentioned to me five days ago and told me how truly dreadful it was. _The curse I have inside is dangerous, thus it will transform me into a vicious wolf beast. I can’t let it happen to me. Especially now when I have a child with me…_

Still, despite how ferocious I was in my wolf shape, I still had fought and reclaimed my control over it. Why in Cybertron’s name should I shift into a wolf? The big price I paid was being sent thousands of lightyears away from Earth. Then the guilt woke within me. Quintessa was there with Cybertron. My Autobots were still stuck there on Earth along the humans. How can I return to Earth and stop Quintessa? No, the only foe I had in my mind was Grídr. I shall find her and make her pay for what she had done to me.

But my new curse was not the worst part. Grídr did something else that was way worse than I ever imagined. She turned me through a painful transformation from my robotic form to a new form along with my wolf form. I had become a human. Now I was stuck inside a human version of myself with a wolf curse inside my body.

I might be a human now but my spark still remained the same, except it pulsed like an organic heart instead. Also, my former protoform had become a skeleton not made of bones but strong metal. Although, I soon faced the harsh reality of the human weaknesses as I learned to rely on organic food and fresh water. Even breathing became a critical conciseness as my new organs required oxygen to function.

However, there may be a slim hope for me to break free from my curse. Saga mentioned someone named Freyja, the High Priestess of Vanaheimr. She told me that Freyja was very powerful and skillful within magic, which the child was absolutely positive that the High Priestess can destroy my curse. Though, the first thing was how we can reach to her if we had no idea where the Realm of Vanaheimr.

“Are you okay, Vidar?” I heard Saga’s voice. I looked on her again.

“I’m fine,” I answered with a small mutter, trying to distract myself from my thoughts. I then sighed and repeated the same thing again: “And stop calling me Vidar. My name is Optimus Prime.”

“I understand,” Saga avoided eye-contact. I could see how unsure she was. But I can’t blame her calling me as Vidar. When I found her frozen inside a water well, I was in my new human form, only to be transformed by force back to my cursed wolf form. After that, I was stuck in my wolf shape against my own will. It was until only five days ago when I finally broke myself free from it.

“Come, let’s move on,” I stroked her shoulder gently. Gosh she was so tiny. She reached up to my hips despite she was only twelve years old with a height of 120 centimeters. Thanks to my two-meter height, I had to bend almost to reach on her head. Her half-oval, half round face got red blush in her cheeks caused by the increasing cold.

She started to shiver and enfolded her handmade blood-red and black shawl closer into her body like a cape. Its white patterns engulfed it like large waves. It was hold up by a golden buckle that looked like two wingless dragons biting on each other’s tails with two red rubies as their eyes. A needle held the buckle on its place. A weak wind breezed past us. Her short, golden browned hair waved messily, maybe even messier after days without a bath.

We moved on.

The ancient trees arose enormous with thick trunks. Autumn claimed many leaf trees to undress themselves naked without their leaves. The conifer trees looked more like mystical monsters that got stuck in time than enormous trees. Their conifer branches expanded like large claws that hung heavily. The tree canopy blocked some lights from reaching the ground. It made it dark inside, yet there was enough of light to see where our path went. There were many rocks everywhere, covered in green moss as their blankets over them.

Fortunately, the road had several stones with crafted markings – I presumed runes – on them. I wished I could read the runes. I was lucky to have the child with me. However, I noticed quite early that she had problematic to read, still she could translate them but not without struggling. It was possible that she had learned the basic of reading but hadn’t learned properly.

Yet… I was not sure about the child.

She looked much like a human but whenever I say the word ‘human’, the only thing she expressed was confusion. She’d never heard the word before. I shot a studying gaze on her right wrist. It was tattooed with three simple lines that circled it. I wondered often why was she tattooed there and what motive did her tattoos mean. I had asked her about her tattoos. She simply shook it off with simple answers like ‘I’m the third child of my family’, ‘Number three is a lucky number’ and so on. Yet, I sensed her tattoos bore a hidden story yet to be discovered.

“We can stop here,” I found a pretty good spot nearby the road, yet hidden enough from travelers to find us. Close to the road ran a slender rivulet next to a steep slope that got erotized by a large river from a long time ago. Immediately, I heard a loud growling noise. It came from Saga’s stomach. She was hungry.

“I go and look around for something to eat,” she said.

“I go with you. I’m not going to let you go freely,” I replied strictly. I knew dangers lurked everywhere.

I can’t let some troll or giant – no, jötun – come and take her into hostage. Again, I knew almost nothing about the creatures Saga told me days ago. Alves, dwarves, jötunar, trolls, goblins, männ’skor… I wondered what in the pit had I arrived into. Then there was the name _Yggdrasil,_ in which Saga told me it was the name of our galaxy. But what did she mean really? Was Yggdrasil a name of the Milky Way or not?

“Alright,” she nodded, shuddering again. She looked over her shoulder, watching around us. “Maybe we’ll be lucky if we get a bird or something.”

“Perhaps,” I gave a tiny answer with her behind my back because I was making sure no one noticed us, then I laid my sword and shield inclined a thick tree’s trunk. But just as I turned around me, she was already gone. “Saga? Great… Now she’s on free foot again.”

I found it annoying when I thought she was with me and suddenly was gone the next second without speaking a word. That was a thing I laid notice on it. Saga walked silently. Her feet gave no noise. But still, she left a trace behind her, which I followed it directly. It must’ve taken several minutes before I found her. She sat bent near the edge of a lake where she glanced on the surface. What was she doing?

“There you are!” I shouted.

It caused her to jump up in surprise and plummeted into the water with a yelp. I ran to her where I grabbed the child and lifted her up. She was completely drenched in lake water. It was then I found what the reason why she looked on the surface. She held a large dagger that was stuck inside its brown sheath. Saga gulped as she dropped the dagger. It thudded on the grass.

“I-I will not take it with me," she stammered.

I cast my light blue eyes on it, studying it in suspicion. I put the child down on her feet before I grasped the dagger’s sheath. Surprisingly it had a belt knotted to it. Then I turned my gaze on Saga who stood still in tension like she feared to get a yell. I softened when I thought on a second time. She wore no weapons, which it made her defenseless and vulnerable.

“You will have it with you,” I said to her. I swept the belt around her hips and tightened it up. “But you must listen to me carefully. If I’m not around, you must defend yourself with it.”

She nodded again. I saw the uncertainty in her sea-blue eyes. I could read that she will need some practice to use it in fights. Her silence was thick when I stretched up on my feet. Her stomach growled again, louder this time. Then I heard strange noises. It sounded like small branches beating against each other, then there came the glugging sounds that would remind like a cork being pulled from a wine bottle.

Some birds wandered on the ground, noising onto each other like roosters. They looked almost like western capercaillie birds; except they were larger and fatter. Luck was on our side. But as I spotted the birds, the inner wolf inside me awoke intensely. However, I sensed it and fought against the wolf instincts. As it happened, the birds suddenly fled, flying away. It became colder in the air. I sensed a threat. But then it vanished all suddenly without warning.

“Oh well, the birds are gone. It would have been lovely to get one,” I spoke, looking down, only to discover the child was gone again. As silent as ever, she sneaked without a word. A groan rumbled inside my throat. “Ugh, not again… I have to teach her to talk with me before walking away.”

**_Ruuuk-ruuuk! Ruuuk-ruuuk!_ **

Just then, loud cawing sounds echoed above the canopy. Two large, black ravens flew in a circle. They kept cawing their cries like they complained over something. But it lasted barely a moment before the birds left and flew to another direction. Then I focused on my search after the child.

It took not long before I found her. The child found mushrooms to eat. A bird would have been lovely instead. But as always, either I had to turn into my wolf shape or not hunt a thing. Me inside a wolf shape was a thing I wouldn’t become, even if I must. She ate hastily like she had never seen food in her entire life. I shook my head with an inclined grimace. By the time she was finished, the noon had already become evening as the daggers of sunlight began to fade and slowly vanish. It became darker by every sparkbeat.

“Saga, we have to go back,” I said. “It’s getting dark fast.”

“Okay. We go back to the spot or…?” she questioned while she tried to adjust the weapon belt better. She had already a belt around her hips to hold her trousers and her oversized tunic on place. The new belt was tied around her waist instead. Clearly it was too long for her. It suited rather for a real warrior than a tiny child.

“Hmm, it would’ve been wise to find a shelter. Come,” I touched my breaded chin now when I thought on it. The nights came earlier and lasted longer than days. I reached my right hand, waiting for her to grasp on my hand, which she did rapidly.

More minutes clicked past when we returned to the spot where I picked up my weapons and carried them. But as we stepped on the road, Saga stopped suddenly and turned her eyes behind us. She stared ahead the road. The trees seemed to bend over the road like they tried to create a whirling tunnel behind us.

“What’s wrong?” I glanced down on her, noticing how afraid she was.

“We should get off the road,” she spoke, turning her eyes up on me. Her eyes told me the truth. She feared for something unseen. “Someone’s coming fast to us.”

As unprepared we were, hooves were galloping towards us. Instinctually, I grabbed Saga, lifted her up and embraced her in my arms as we ran to the rivulet. An old tree stood on the steeply slope, its broad roots expanded across the slope. A hole hid underneath the roots, quite large enough for us both if cramped tightly. We jumped down into the hole. I hugged Saga densely while I sharpened all my senses on high alert. The galloping hooves came closer and closer. A sudden temperature drop occurred at the same time, followed by a solid silence. All birds, beasts and creatures vanished as if they had fled totally.

The air felt suddenly ice-cold. Our breaths became white steam. Saga’s cheeks reddened more in response of the cold. My bread froze into frost. We started to shake intensively as we began to freeze. It became so cold that I wrapped my dark blue and red-flamed robe around Saga close into my chest, shielding her from the cold. The hooves arrived, frighteningly behind the tree. There was an awful stench that made us close to puke. It stank like… rotten meat. Steps came from metallic armored boots as the traveler jumped off its mount.

In the next heartbeat, two armored gloves gripped the roots over us. A dark figure stood above us. Its armor gloves were not ordinary ones; they were talon-like ones with long, black claws. Saga gasped, close to scream but I was fast to stop it by covering her mouth with my right hand, preventing a single sound coming out from her. We held our breaths for a long moment. None of us dared to move a muscle or make a noise. We breathed as quietest as we can.

The figure wore a long, black cloak all over its body and its hood hid its head solely. Its arms were armored with dark armor. Gosh, the stench of rotten meat came straight from it! I got sick by the stench. I felt the urge to puke up. It was now I and Saga saw the white frost spreading on the roots, the ground and the grass. Even I shook by the cold. The grounded leaves crisped into frost.

“ **Näirashi… áshagrûl…** ” some hissing words muttered from the figure. “ **Áshalogûl… Éisälû… Éisälû…”**

Saga shook more frightened. I hugged the child tighter into me. The figure’s talons thickened its grips on the roots, creating more frost and ice that spread all everywhere. Neither I or Saga dared to breathe. I held my gaze up to the claws, watching tensely as I prepared for a potential attack. Even if I can’t leave my eyes from it, I could feel how ice-cold Saga’s hands were. Her fingers turned red. Her ears turned red too. Even her six earrings got nearly frosted too. Slowly, she got frost-bitten on her face and hands. Her wet hair frosted into ice. My hands were getting bitten by the cold too. I could feel how freezing cold my hands became.

The figure hissed like a cat in heat. Any unexpected movement and it will attack us without hesitation or mercy. My spark was gripped by pure fear. For the first time since Cybertron fell, I was so frightened that I prayed to Primus for mercy. I wished now that I was in my robot form, not in a human form!

But all suddenly, the figure let go the roots as it stood up, swept around and climbed upon its steed. It then galloped in the same path where it came from. Nonetheless, it was only first when it was completely silent that we dared to leave the hiding spot. To our horror, the entire road was covered in ice and frost. It was the same thing for the tree we’d hidden under. It glimmered in tiny crystals of ice.

“Eeek!” Saga slipped and landed on her butt. “Owww…”

“Are you okay?” I pulled her up on her feet, brushing off the frost from her shawl.

“I’m alright, Optimus,” she brushed more frost from her trousers, leg bandages and black boots. Her teeth gritted. She then helped me to brush off some ice from my robe that grew behind my back while we hid. “Brrr… What was that for a creature?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, moving my head back and forth as I checked to reassure we were safe. “But whoever it was… it was definitely looking for something.”

“Or _someone,_ ” she added. Saga looked on the track marks where we found weird tracks from hooves and talons.

* * *

**Evening**

It got completely dark a few hours after our scary moment with the caped creature. The pure pitch-black darkness made it impossible to see anything in the darkness without light. There was no moonlight that would give us some chances to see. Not even the wide ocean of stars could give us a glimpse. I had not the slightest idea where we were.

The atmosphere within the ancient woods changed from mystical to threatening and haunting. What did make it more haunting was the sudden silence that overwhelmed the entire area. There were no sounds from birds or animals. It was like all the native creatures inhabited inside the woods had suddenly left it completely without a sound.

The darkness didn’t ease things easier. I grew more concerned for Saga. Her tiny size and silent feet made her simply exposed. Anyone can miss her effortlessly but it didn’t mean she can go undetected. I can’t take all the risks. Without me, she would get captured or killed by monsters. Without the child, I would never find my way all way back to Earth and save my Autobots. Things did not get better now when we knew there was a creature inside the woods. I remained constantly alert as I watched on every corner in the environment. The trees appeared taller and scarier than they looked in daylight.

Thanks to the darkness, we got totally lost. The road divided in several roads like a spider web. The Sunstone stopped functioning out of reason, much to my frustration and Saga’s horror. Funny thing to tell was that my eyes still glowed. Of course, the pupils glowed just like my former optics like bright sapphires. Although, I was as limited as any human. If I was still in my robot form, I would’ve used my night vision system to scan and see in even the most pitch-blackest darkness. Now as a human, I could not even see my own hand in front of me.

“Can you see anything?” I carried Saga over my shoulders.

“Nothing,” she shook her head. I closed my eyes in frustration as I put her down on the grass again. “I can’t see anything. It’s too dark.”

“I assume you are right, Saga,” I muttered as I recalled her words earlier. “I should’ve been in my wolf form instead.”

“I agree. Yet, you’re not willing to use your wolf side,” she frowned, questionable but still unsure what to speak next. “Why?”

I gazed on her, exhaling deeply through my nose. I can’t blame her for my unwillingness to use my cursed form. All she needed was safety, which it included that I should not use my wolf shape. Otherwise I’d mangle her into shreds. That kind of fate was terrifying for me to think. I sighed quietly when I kneeled down on one knee, caressing her short and messy hair.

“I don’t use it because I don’t want something bad will happen with you,” I told her, gently clapping her cold cheek. I stared into her sea-blue eyes.

“I know what you mean,” she answered and removed my hand from her face. “You don’t want to fall into berserk rage and get your wolf eyes.”

_Wolf eyes,_ I thought on those words. I hadn’t forgotten the pure terror she expressed the moment when I fell into berserk rage. I still remembered when I destroyed the armored sentinels to protect her. In response of it, I was transformed into a ferocious wolf monster. However, after I stopped it, I discovered that my eyes were not my own but wolf eyes. It was only the first taste of the hell of my curse.

“Get down!” suddenly she yelped.

We landed on the ground behind some bushes. I moved my head up to see what Saga saw. Ahead of us, less than a mile, I saw the cloaked figure riding on its steed. No, it was not a steed. Neither did it appear to be a living one. It looked more a corpse of a monster bird-like steed. Mist engulfed the creature before it vanished into the darkness.

“It’s nearby,” Saga whispered, shaking in dismay. “Vidar, what shall we do?”

“I don’t know, Saga. I fear it knows we’re here already,” I shifted my eyes between the child and the diminishing mist. Then I glared on her: “And stop calling me Vidar. You know my real name is –“

“Optimus Prime. Yes, I have heard it many times,” she hissed back with a thundering glare that shot invisible lightning unto my eyes. “But Vidar is a lot easier to call you. Your real name is so… hard to speak.”

“We don’t have time to argue this,” I growled as I glared the child with a lethal gaze. “We must find a way out from these woods undetected.”

“Right…” she mumbled when her eyes widened up largely like she got something in her mind. She pointed her left hand’s finger towards south. “There’s a river nearby. I remember where I saw it. Follow me!”

But as we ran, the sudden sheer cold air reappeared as mist resurfaced from the trees. The stench of rotten meat infested the cold air in an instant sparkbeat. Saga ran ahead of me, faster than me, when the creature’s corpse steed suddenly showed itself. It was close to knock the child. As Saga looked up on the creature, she gasped in fright of death as the cloaked figure unleashed an unbelievable shriek beyond recognition. The shriek wore an aura of a terror that immobilized every living creature and stopped beating hearts.

The terror was the fear of death.

But the child tried to escape from the steed’s talons – yes, its front legs had talons, not hooves – and got lucky from getting a snatch. Then the creature moved its hooded head towards me. I met its red glowing eyes. I saw no face behind the hood. An impressive cape collar covered both the shoulders, behind the spine and front of the chest. It was full of pale feathers that waved by every movement. All the feathers were held by a silver chain with two bird craniums on front. I fought back against the stench and the sight while I stared on the figure’s red eyes.

The steed was a hideous monster of a former winged horse, though its head looked like a mixture between an eagle and a horse with a beak as snout. Its wings were chopped off a long time ago. I could see the maggot-infested meat, the pale bones sticking out and the last remaining muscles still attached to the skeleton. It didn’t neigh at all. Instead, it created clanging sighs as white steams emerged from its rib cage. The saddle and brindle were made of iced bones and spiky chains.

The creature swiftly cast its head over its feathered shoulder, seemingly looking after Saga. I spotted the sword it carried around its waist. Within a second, the creature rode the direction where the child ran. However, before it left, I took my chance to distract myself and ran. Although, I was actually blind by the aura of terror as I ran like a deer in panic running away from an unseen predator. My ears were deaf by the belling shriek that rang inside my head.

“Vidar, where are you?!” my ears caught Saga’s cry. She was far away, too far from my range.

Then the shrieks returned screaming through the woods. I could feel how my spark jumped up under my throat. The shrieks worsened as my inner wolf awoke again, which it forced me into an internal duel between me and the wolf inside. As it happened, my burn-marked arm exploded in burning pain as the black venom chewed through the bones and muscles. I groaned agonizingly whereas I grasped my arm with my other hand tightly, fighting back against the pain.

“Vidar!”

Saga’s cry for help sounded like a faded echo when I was forced to make a decision. I must use my wolf shape. If I don’t use it, Saga will be slaughtered by the creature. But if I do use my wolf form, I feared to lose myself and forget who I am.

_What do I have for a choice?_

“Vidar!” suddenly I heard how close her voice was. Had she run closer or did I somehow get closer?

I rocked my head from right to left, seeking after a glimpse of her. Out of thought and driven by instinctual actions, I rushed while listening on any threatening sound that I must watch out. The creature can strike without warning and without mercy. Lost in the misty darkness, I accidently stumbled a rock and flipped over. It was not a rock. It was actually a stone wall with an old tree as its neighbor whose branches were thicker than my broad chest. Behind the wall slipped another steep slope, though it was a smooth one. The trees seemed to stand denser into each other as if they sought together for company.

“Ow!” I yapped as I collided hard on the ground. My face, hands and chest took the hardest toll. I could feel how my skeleton cracked like they were close to break in pieces. I moaned painfully but silently.

“Vidar…”

I raised my head from the cold grass, moved my gaze to left and I found her crouched between two chubby roots of the tree. She trembled utterly terrified to death. Her face was pale with wide-open eyes. She still had the dagger aside her waist, but strangely enough she never pulled it out from its sheath. It was oblivious. She was not used to wield a weapon. What a fool I was.

“Saga!” I got up on my feet quickly and hurried to her where I embraced her tightly in my arms. Oh Primus, she was completely ice-cold. It was then she started to sob. She buried her head in my neck as I held her closely in my embrace. I felt her warm tears touching on my neck. “Shh, it’s okay. I got you now. You’re safe now.”

“We’re not safe, Optimus,” she sniffled, shaking. “It’s nearby. It knows we are here.”

I was close to answer when I heard hooves coming from the other side of the stone wall. I pressed my back against the trunk, hugging the girl tighter while I strained to breathe. Even the sounds of breaths could give the creature a clue of our hiding spot. Yet, I risked a check to look around the corner of the tree. I saw the creature. Mist swirled like small whirls when the shadow of the creature walked around.

It held its long, dark sword in its left talons. The corpse bird-like steed stood farther from its rider, seemingly waiting obedient. Honestly, the creature seemed to appear out of mist. The grass, bushes and the nearest trees transformed into ice as thin snow appeared like a slim layer. The creature was basically creating snow below its feet.

What happened next was even more shocking. A little owl that tried to flee was a victim for the caped creature. Directly, I pressed Saga on my chest to hide her eyes from the ruthless view. Yet, she could hear it all clear despite I tried to hide her ears too.

The owl was flying above the creature that moved its head up, transfixing its red eyes on the fleeing bird and stretched up its right arm where its talons glowed in a white light. The owl screeched as a stream of life force was plundered by the figure. Its wings froze into icy crystals as all feather frosted into icy crystals and its broad eyes turned white in blindness. It plummeted like a heavy rock as it landed beside us unto the ground. It had become a frozen corpse whose life was stolen. All feathers shattered like glass on the impact, exposing the iced corpse as skinny, withered and naked.

“It’s coming closer, Vidar,” Saga squawked in panic. Her tears streamed from her panicked eyes as she hid her face in my neck again, sniffling against her own will. Of course, she called me Vidar but I didn’t care about it this time. “Please, don’t let Shrieker find us!”

“I’m not going to let Shrieker take you,” I whispered to reassure her whereas I fixed my eyes on her. My hand stroked behind her head. “But stay quiet, Saga. I sense it…”

She inhaled a deep breath, holding it while she tried to stop crying. I hugged her closer to provide her protection. It was then I got an idea. Saga mentioned she remembered where she saw the river. But before I could speak to her, we heard another screeching shriek from the creature, in which Saga called it as Shrieker. I squatted down, holding the child closest to me like our lives depended on it. Then we heard hooves that left the area, galloping deeper in the woods. By then, frost had already reached the stone wall.

“Has it vanished?” the child sniffled, looking at me tearfully.

“I think so,” I frowned warily when I inspected her if she had any wounds or not.

To my relief, she had none. Although, I was horrified to see her completely frozen. She was dangerously frost-bitten and hypothermic. Her body was so freezing that her arms and legs jerked intensely to keep the last body heat she had. It was now I realized I can lose her tonight. If we don’t find a shelter soon, she will die by hypothermia. I cannot let that happen. Never!

The memories replayed inside my head. The memories brought me back to the night when I found her stuck down inside the water well, ice-cold and close to leave the living and travel to Helheimr. I hadn’t forgotten my short visit in Helheimr where I met Hela, the Queen of the Dead. Imagining the child traveling to the Realm of the Dead… that would be all in vain for me.

“Saga, listen to me now,” I whispered low. “You said you remember where the river is. Can you point me where?”

“There,” she lifted her left hand and pointed the direction straightforward. As I narrowed my eyesight, I could see some bare glimpses of shimmering water further ahead. I understood instantly what we must do. We can’t be careful now. We had to take the chance right now. She glanced at me weakly. She struggled to breathe while her jaw shuddered by her slowly incoming hypothermia.

“I can see it. We’ll run to the river,” I continued. “But you have to hold on me while we run.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will carry you on my back. We’ll get there. However, I need you to watch behind my back. If you see the creature, shout out.”

“Okay…” she nodded hurriedly. Surprisingly, I expected her to ask me if I should turn into my wolf form and carry her on my furry spine instead. But she didn’t. Instead she was silent.

Then I placed her down on the ground, only to place myself in front of her and helped her to jump up on my shoulders. It was now or never. I stretched up tall with Saga on my shoulders, her arms wrapped around my neck. I avoided to look on the dead owl, yet I could sense that Saga stared on it.

“Ready?” I asked one more time. She nodded. I inhaled a deep breath before we leaped our fast march. “Here we go!”

I rushed as fast as I could but it was easier said than done when you carry a child, sword and shield behind your spine. I was forced to hold my balance with the weight on me whereas keeping one eye on my feet, the other one on the river. I was close to slip over rocks, fallen logs and anything else that rested on our path. It must’ve taken only a few minutes before we finally reached outside the forest and arrived the slim border between the woods and the river. The river was quite a wide one but slow-flowing one with strong currents underneath the surface.

Our luck returned when I saw the ferry close to a short, unmanned house. The ferry was made both of thick, strong wood and rust-free steel with a sail that would provide speed during windy days. It had a long oar-pole. As the adrenaline exploded within me, I pushed all of my strength and endurance to reach there unharmed and safely. I managed to climb over a simple fence, then we ran for it.

But just as we came as closest, Saga screamed out: “Vidar!”

I threw my distressed eyes over my shoulder and froze in horror as Shrieker rode towards us in full gallop. In the immediate sparkbeat, I tossed Saga off my shoulders. She collided on the dirt path quite violently. However, amazingly she got up on her feet quite quickly despite how weak she was by now.

“Saga, go to the ferry and unknot the rope!” I bellowed my order. “I’ll hold Shrieker back!”

Saga was fast to respond without questions. She hurried to the ferry, using her frost-bitten fingers to unknot the rope from the dock pole. I dragged my sword over my shoulder, then caught the shield with my other arm. Shrieker pulled its steed’s brindles back, forcing it into a tough halt, then it strode up on its hind legs. The hooded creature unleashed its screeching shriek. Saga screamed out as she fell down with her hands pressed on her ears to block it from coming inside her head.

Despite I wielded both my sword and shield, the shriek created a powerful force that pulled me backward. Even if I fought back to stand guard, the aura gave its chilling claws through my body as it sought for my weaknesses. I can’t fail right now! I must fight back to give the child time. Shrieker pulled its sword, rising it up high in the air and made a rapid swing toward me. Against the aura, I held my focus on the creature’s sword instead.

Our swords met with a fierce collision. A sharp clang was heard from the two blades. However, Shrieker’s sword proved to be extremely frail as it broke directly in halves, becoming dust in an instant second. Shrieker shrieked again like it responded viciously. But before I could think, I dodged with a roll to right, then I slashed my sword one of the corpse steed’s hind legs.

The leg broke apart, followed by the collapse of the creature’s mount that fell lifelessly on the ground. The steed became dust and ash that sunk under back to the earth, settling in peace. Shrieker got lucky to jump off in time, landed the ground and rolled clumsy, then it got up on its feet. Face to face we stood onto each other.

“ **Ráshalûog…** ” Shrieker hissed in its language beyond recognition. It sounded like a dying woman. “ **Närashélûg… Cybertronian…** ”

As I heard the word, my eyes widened up largely. Where did Shrieker learn the word? No, it was impossible. It can’t be possible.

“Optimus, watch out for the claws!” Saga shouted. It occurred just in right time as I saw Shrieker’s sudden attack.

It tossed its right talons into the air, ready to slash off my face. I dodged with a leap backwards. I got so extremely lucky to avoid the black claws from slashing my eyes off my face. I then swung my sword that slashed Shrieker’s arm completely from its body.

An anguishing scream escaped from it whereas it caught its missing arm like a defeated warrior. It’s ripped arm and armor perished into dust and ash that faded into a breeze. The creature transfixed its red eyes on me again, almost hypnotizing me for one sparkbeat. The last thing it did was summoning its mist that whirled around it like a cloak and vanished in the blink of an eye. It was literally gone. Nevertheless, the stench remained in the air. The smell of rotten flesh hung heavily. Only breathing in it gave a nasty sting through the throat.

A sparkbeat pulsed past when I regained focus as I focused on Saga who was lying on the ferry, trembling and crying quietly with her hands covering her ears. I didn’t bother to put my weapons behind my back directly. All I had in my mind was the child. I hurried towards the ferry, stepped onto it and kneeled beside her, hastily laying my weapons beside me. I swept my arms underneath Saga, lifting her up and hugged her tightly. She buried her face in my chest, seeking for comfort. Her chest was intensively shaken, both by the cold and distress.

“I got you. You are safe now,” I cooed in her ear, reassuring while I caressed her spine. She mumbled in her weeping, inaudible from my ears. “Shrieker is gone. It will not come back.”

She didn’t say a word. I assumed it was too much for her to bear after what we went through some very scary experiences. I tried to let one of my arms grab the oar but Saga refused to let me go. She squeezed harder around my chest when I held the oar with my hands, pressed it against the dock and pushed the ferry out on the river. The currents were slow but strong that gave us a soft ride. I still had the child wrapped around my chest while we sat and let the river take us where it went.

* * *

**Less than one hour’s river journey later**

I had lost the count of time in our slow river journey when a sudden rainstorm cried its abrupt deluge that whipped everywhere and everyone who wandered in the night. The rain hit me like hail as I shielded Saga under my robe. Nevertheless, we got totally soaked. I grew more unfulfilled and anxious as every minute passed for the child’s condition, which it increased my fear into worse.

I prayed that a shelter will reveal itself soon. We cannot just sit and travel slowly under a merciless deluge. Then, as if Primus heard my prayer, I spotted something in the rainy darkness. It was quite a very big cabin made of stone with a hip roof of peat that located very close to the river. Nearby to it trailed a gravel road. I realized it was the road we missed earlier when we got lost in the dark woods.

Without thinking straight, I grasped the oar and used all my strength to steer the ferry towards land. The currents were stronger than I thought. Although, after some struggling, I finally managed to steer the ferry so it touched the water’s edge. I swept my arms around Saga who was barely awake, yet I kept telling her to stay awake to make sure she wouldn’t perish.

Quickly after I wielded my weapons behind my shoulders, I held her in my arms as I hurried to the cabin. As we reached the door, I slammed it with violent knocks to see if the owner was in sleep. To my disbelief and revulsion, the door trailed open. The owner was nowhere to be seen. It was a big relief to see that the cabin was empty. Saga mumbled tiredly, trying to speak some words but was too feeble.

The stone cabin was much larger inside than what it looked outside. Its sheer size indicated that the cabin belonged certainly to a jötun that was possibly four meters tall as the roof went up to five meters. It looked simple but it gave a safe sense of a welcoming home.

It had a big fireplace with a chimney, a few tall shelves, a broad table with four chairs and a coat-hanger that stood beside the fireplace. I found the humongous bed hidden behind two massive curtains, which they provided a dense darkness inside the squeezed bed corner. The whole cabin had only one window that shone in light that would touch the fireplace on opposite wall. Its stained glass was painted in red, green and blue that reflected lovely and gave life inside the dark cabin.

Instantly, I went to the bed where I lay Saga on it. She blinked several times in a row like she got ash in her eyes.

“Where are we, Optimus?” she coughed a lot. Gosh, she looked so lifeless as she sneezed, coughed and struggled to breathe. She was rather gasping and panting for air than breathing properly. Entire her was badly hypothermic with cold skin. Her clothes were deeply drenched, which it made her shiver a lot. I had my right hand placed on her collar bone where I felt the fast heartbeats overworked inside her in desperation to heat her up.

“We are inside a cabin. No one else is here,” I stroked on her cold head, feeling how icy her short hair was and watched her with melancholic eyes. “I’ll make some fire.”

She nodded slowly, yet clearly before she coughed heavily again. I then turned around and went to the pile of dry timber where I picked some in my arms, then piled them inside the fireplace. But before I did it, I laid my sword and shield on the stone table and took off my robe to let it hang on the coat-hanger. I searched after something flammable when I sensed a tiny hand touching on my hip. Saga stood beside me. She held an iron stick and a flint. She handed them over to me gently.

“Go back to bed,” I ordered her, patting her frozen cheek. I sensed how overheated she was. I touched on her forehead to feel if she got a fever or not. To my fear, she had an unpleasant fever, but not as bad as I thought it would be. “Gosh, you have fever. You need to stay in bed.”

“I can’t sleep with wet clothes on,” she shook her head. Despite her slowly increasing fever, Saga put her eyes on the closest shelf, in which I presumed it stored some spare clothes. She coughed badly whereas she sought after suitable clothes for her short size. “You wouldn’t sleep with wet clothes too. Trust me, it’s not good.”

“If you say so,” I replied. Although, she was right.

It was now I realized that I suffered gravely by the sheer cold. I had almost lost entirely of all the nerves both of my hands and feet. They were totally numb. I started to cough too. My body shuddered intensely in desperation to maintain the last warmth I had left inside. My organic skin became hard as it tensed up in response of the freezing cold.

Of course, I was such a fool. I was not longer in my true form. I was in the same grim condition as Saga. We were both frost-bitten, facing hypothermia and were in grave need for shelter and warmth. How could I have been so blind? Hadn’t I learnt enough about the human anatomy wholly?

My gloves were taken off my red, swollen hands. Despite my numbness, I hit the iron stick against the flint repeatedly to ignite sparks. The sparks ignited tiny flames that grew fast as the fire swallowed the timber. The flames gave shining golden lights as the whole cabin shone in warmth. As swiftly as the flames danced brightly, the heat emerged from its source and warmed up the entire cabin. By then, I shifted my gaze from the flames to the child who searched for fitting clothes. The dagger laid on the table alongside my weapons. She’d even laid her shawl on the coat-hanger too.

It was now I truthfully turned shocked what I discovered next. I watched as Saga undressed her tunic when her spine revealed an outrageous reality. Not only she was tiny; she was thin too. The lower rib bones and pelvis were clear to spot. But it was not the visible rib bones that horrified me. It was the seven wounds on her back that made me gasp. They looked obnoxious. They seemed to be still healing in a slow rate, thus it told me it must had occurred recently, perhaps a lunar cycle ago. The shape of the wounds appeared like they must have been caused by a whip. Was she whipped?!

“Who made those wounds on you!?” I bawled dismayed.

It startled her up as she turned around, gasping with an open mouth, her axels pressed against her neck. Her frightened expression grassed her as it told me the truth. She’d lied to me. I stood up, walking toward her mildly but every step I made, she stepped backward. Saga tried an attempt to hide the closest wound that rested on the lower left ribs with her right hand. We stood in silence. Tension arose high between us. It faced me inhospitably as I realized she must had a dreadful life. I thought she grew in a good family of traders. Apparently, she must’ve lied straight to me. Who was she really?

“Who did those wounds, child?” I asked another dismaying question, approaching closer.

The child stepped closer and closer toward the wall behind her. Then she used her left hand to grasp her tattooed wrist as if she wanted to hide it whereas she grabbed on the rune in her necklace. It became oblivious for me. She had been severely treated, worse than a dog. I went closer until she got paralyzed by the inexcusable reality. I could see how she prepared herself for the worst.

“What are you waiting for?” she yelled desperately. But then she coughed a lot, nearly falling on her knees because of the brutal force of the coughing. To my amazement to say, she still had some strength to stand on her bare feet despite her illness. “Go and beat me. I am nothing else but a thräll.”

_Thräll. What kind of word is it,_ I thought puzzled over the strange word. However, as I considered carefully and recalled to Earth languages, I comprehended the true meaning of it. Thräll was the Old Norse word for slave. _No… you can’t be a slave child._

Saga closed her eyes like she prepared herself to get beaten while fighting against her coughing. She was close to collapse. But she did not expect the opposite outcome. I grew emotional inside my fast beating spark as I approached her quickly, swiping my arms and hugged her densely. She held her breath whereas I squeezed her closer into me, holding her so close that I could feel her fast pulsing heart as nearest as our chests touched together. Then she moved her slender arms round my chest, shivering by the sudden hug that she wasn’t prepared.

“I’m not going to beat you,” I stroked her wounded shoulders, whispering tenderly. “You don’t deserve to get beaten, neither do you deserve to have these wounds on your back.”

No words came from her. Her shaken body shuddered more. Then the child sniffled with a low voice: “… Why do you spare me?”

“I spare you because you deserve a second chance,” I explained. “Whoever treated you like this and whipped you shall be punished for its crime. I’d rather set every slave to freedom than leave them to face their fates.”

She didn’t reply. I could sense her fighting back against her tears. I understood undoubtedly. Saga was a slave child. But what happened with her really? Then I raised up, carrying the child and sat on the bed’s edge where I took the densely thick blanket and draped it around us. Though the blanket was meant for the size of a giant, I didn’t care. All I cared was Saga. The rain drummed constantly against the roof, door, window and walls. The child laid her ear on the middle of my chest, listening on my spark in search of warmth. Poor thing. She couldn’t stop coughing.

We sat together for a very long moment. It was now I felt extremely exhausted. After all what we’d gone through, we desperately needed some sleep. Though, our wet clothes were in big need to get dry after the harsh rain. The moment lasted until the child let me go, stepped on the floor and walked to the shelf in silence. I opened my mouth to speak but then I thought she might feel only worse if I’d force her to speak, which I honestly won’t. Yet, I held my gaze on her wounds for a brief moment until I turned my focus to the fireplace.

I grabbed a couple of timber, tossed them inside the flames and watched the fire. I couldn’t help myself to shift my eyes between the lifeful flames and Saga who found a large but cozy undercoat that covered her completely except the arms because it had no arm sleeves. The undercoat was far too large for such a tiny and thin girl like her but she can’t sleep naked and get colder than her already freezing body can handle. It would fit me, though it’d be oversized even in my own size.

She was close to grab her wet clothes that laid on the floor when I told her: “I’ll take your clothes.”

Our eyes met. Saga’s eyes looked unresponsive as if all happiness abandoned from her, thus she felt guilty over the shocking reality that opened my realization. Plus, her coughing took a big toll for her to manage. She looked so exhausted and almost lifeless that she was ready to collapse at any minute and sleep in, never to wake up again.

She then went to bed where she dug under the blanket. Like said, I took her clothes to hang them on the hanger, then placing it in front of the fireplace. I made sure there was a distance between the flames and our clothes to prevent fire from burning the whole cabin. The last thing I did before heading bed was undressing my own clothes off. Although, I kept my bloomers on.

I looked on the branded wound on my right forearm. It looked like it was steadily healing. But I knew it will be a very dreadful scar when healed it fully. I touched it with my left hand’s index finger. The wound burned sharply. I hissed in response of the pain that burned through my entire arm.

I was amused though to see I was very tattooed with all my flames on arms, shoulders and chest. Also, I got more amused to see how well-built I looked; I appeared like a bodybuilder, though that wasn’t a big surprise to speak. However, I paid a notice of an odd change. I saw two wolves on either side of my chest. One wolf swallowed a sun on the left side, the other wolf swallowing a moon on the right side. They were briefly visible as they appeared like flames instead, which they would not be seen in the naked eye.

“Weird…” I studied my new tattoos in fascination. I frowned in puzzlement. “I don’t recall I had wolves on me.”

I watched back into the flames when I saw _her_. The face of Grídr appeared inside the flames; her golden optics, the eight straps of pearls that pierced either sides of her nose plate, trailing to her hidden audio receptors and her outstanding crown that glimmered like ice-blue crystals.

The rage awakened inside me once more. I will find her and make her pay for what she’d done. I swore for it. Nevertheless, I noticed she was not alone. Two wolf heads appeared on either side of Grídr. I thought I saw illusions so I blinked quickly, shaking my head and looked back on the flames. Both Grídr and the wolves were gone.

_What is going on with me,_ I thought.

Just then, the exhaustion punched through me as I yawned widely. I had no more energy to think more thoughts so I tiredly went to bed. I hid underneath the blanket, falling into sleep. But to be honest… I couldn’t sleep straightaway before I opened my eyes to look after the girl. The size of the giant bed was so broad that it would require outstandingly ten humans to cover it whole.

Saga slept closest to the corner of the bed where its edge met the wall. I noticed instantly that she was snuffling in silence despite I saw only her back. She struggled breathing as well. She kept coughing for a long moment without a break. She had curled like a cat with the oversized undercoat that covered her wholly almost like a shell of thick wool.

Emotions woke inside my spark. I felt guilty for her wellbeing. Then the wrath grew. Who was the responsible one who whipped on Saga’s back? Such a cruelty was unforgivable. I couldn’t imagine the tremendous pain she experienced. Yet, I got many thoughts on her at once when I crawled closer to her, reaching my hand to her axel and touched her gently. She stopped shaking as she held her breath. I sensed her silent suffering.

I then exhaled as I spoke a whisper: “Why didn’t you tell me until now?”

No answer was heard. But just then, she carefully moved her right hand over her shoulder to touch my hand. Her tattooed wrist made me thoughtful when she gripped my hand very hard. Yet, she didn’t move to see me in the eye. She held back a cough.

“Who harmed you?” I asked another question, then I waited to see if she’d reply.

“Magne…” she said feebly out a name before she coughed again.

“Magne?” I frowned worriedly.

She only nodded, still avoiding to roll over and look at me. Nevertheless, her grip tightened harder. But then she fell into silence. Impulsively, I squeezed her hand tighter, yet sympathetically. It hurt my spark to see her like this.

Several minutes passed before I let her hand go, lying on my back and stared up while I listened on the merciless rain that never stopped drumming unto the roof, window and walls. The orange lights from the flames continued to gleam brightly as the whole cabin warmed up eventually. I transfixed my gaze back on the flames, somehow hypnotized by the lived dance.

The flames seemed to take shapes of mammals from Earth, particularly cetaceans that swam, played and sang in their mysterious songs. Some of them were humpback whales, others were orcas that swam closely bonded in a pod and happy common dolphins that played wildly.

Eventually, I fell fast asleep.

* * *

**A few hours’ sleep later**

“AAAAAAAAGH!”

Suddenly I was awoken by a scream that sounded like a banshee of a murdered child. Actually, I got literally flown up with wide-open eyes, my arms and legs on all directions. I cast my gaze on Saga who had her arms covered her head like she was taking shelter from falling bombs. Without saying a word, I responded instinctually to reach and comfort her.

As I embraced her, she hugged me rapidly and wept, hiding her face in my chest. I cooed her whereas I caressed her shoulders and head, comforting her. It was completely pitch-black. The flames had died after finishing to burn a long time ago, leaving a big pile of ash. It felt both threatening and lonely.

“What happened, Saga?” I asked her patiently, waiting her to finish crying. “Did you have a nightmare?”

She nodded frequently without looking up on me. She clearly witnessed something terrific and terrifying inside her nightmare. Her sweaty body shuddered violently. The girl curled up when she stammered: “I saw Shrieker... it was chasing after me.”

I lifted her closer so her face touched my neck as I hugged her tightly. She stopped her shaking steadily when Saga coughed again. I aided her as I slammed carefully on her wounded shoulders to ease her coughing. She struggled to breathe when she said: “I’m scared to sleep. If I sleep, Shrieker will come back.”

“Little one… Shrieker will not dare to hurt you,” I ensured the girl, squeezing her closer, yet warmly. “I have slashed its arm off. It won’t dare to come back.”

“Vidar, I don’t want to be afraid anymore –“

But as it happened, we got interrupted by a sharp-pitching shriek that occurred outside, followed by screaming people. It sounded far in the distance, though it felt like it was nearby. Instinctually, I hugged her as tightest when I tossed the blanket over us to hide us. The child covered her ears and held back a scream. The blanket might be thick but it would provide almost to nothing for protection. All we can do was lying still and dared not to move a muscle. We breathed as quiet as possible.

The screams and shrieks revealed a brutal ambush as the unlucky souls were slaughtered alive. It was undoubtable Shrieker who was killing them all on the road nearby. I closed my eyes, straining to stop listening the killing. But it was all in vain. Neither I or Saga were able to prevent ourselves from listening all of the merciless butchering.

Then it all stopped promptly. Yet, we dared not to give a small peek. I feared that Shrieker would slam through the door and find us inside the cabin. Then I saw the poor owl whose life force was taken by Shrieker. Imagining us as icy corpses haunted my mind. But after a long moment of hiding, it became too hot for us to handle under the blanket, so I pulled ourselves out, still cautiously.

Nothing happened. A sigh of relief came from me once I understood we were still safe. It was then I realized we both sweated a lot. We were so frightened that our bodies got soaked in sweat. The cold air cooled us down. Saga’s eyes were wide in utter horror though. I sensed she wouldn’t dare to sleep in again. She was too afraid.

“Is it gone?” she asked shaken.

“I think so,” I replied, checking around warily. Even if it was quiet, it can change swiftly without warning.

“Vidar, I’m scared…”

“I know. So am I. But no matter what happens, Shrieker will not take you from me. You are safe with me.”

She nodded. Then Saga spoke: “I can’t sleep. I’m too scared to sleep, Optimus.”

“Maybe some light from the fireplace would help you to feel better,” then I thought on it. Perhaps the fireplace would help to give comfort for both of us. “Would you think that will help?”

“Yes,” she nodded again. “Fire always helps.”

“All right,” I nodded as my answer.

We got off the bed, walked to the fireplace where I reignited the fireplace by refueling more timber, then hit the iron stick. More sparks gripped on the wood, which slowly grew spreading. The flames turned livid as they shone the golden lights that lightened up the whole cabin once again.

The warmth remerged from the fire when Saga touched on her shawl. It was dry. She draped it around her shoulders and sat down on the floor, staring into the flames.

I put my dark blue and red flamed shirt on before I took my robe on me. Then I sat beside Saga, looking on her with a frown. She coughed harshly, though it lasted barely a moment. The flames sparked and crisped lividly when I lied my hand on her right axel. It triggered a reaction as she gasped with a small hiss in anxiety, moving her head away from me like she wanted to avoid eye-contact. I gazed on her tattoo wrist. She clenched her hand into a hard fist.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I caressed her axel.

All I met was silence. I then moved my hand to grab gently on her tattoo wrist. But before I could even touch her, Saga was rapid to act. She moved fast her right hand away from me, using her left hand to hide the three tattoos on her wrist.

As it happened, she hissed like a feral cat, glaring at me sharply: “I’ll never be free. I have always been a slave since I learned to walk. Once you are tattooed with these, you are forever a thräll… until death takes you to Helheimr.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t know how to answer. The flaming lights painted Saga in red, orange, yellow and purple in many shades. Her glaring eyes looked like stormy seas. Looking through her eyes, I saw her rough life. Her life proved to be very tough in the worst conditions I can only imagine. Then it hit me. Her tiny and thin body size meant only one thing.

_Starvation,_ came the instant thought inside my mind. I knew starvation had grave consequences; lack of nutrition will slow a child’s growth and weaken its immune system, which it will lead to easily exposing of dangerous diseases and unavoidably death.

I realized undoubtedly that she’d starved before, mainly as a way of punishment, though not severally but still seriously so it had given the condition of her body. It ached my spark to think on it. She turned her head away, seemingly wanted to avoid eye-contact again. I couldn’t hold it any longer before I took her into my arms and comprised her tenderly and closely. As I expected, she tried to get herself free from my arms, only to get more squeezed as I snubbed to let her go.

“Let me go, Optimus,” she pleaded, struggling. “You are acting just like my former master!”

“I am not your _master_ , Saga,” I told her. “And I will never be your master. You are not my slave.”

“But I told you –“

“That you’ll never be free because of your tattoos. I understand. But it doesn’t mean I can find a way to make you free. I will make you a free child.”

Hearing my words caused Saga to stare straight on me widely. Our eyes met. Although, all I saw was not happiness. It was pure dread like she saw a ghost in front of her. Within the blink of an eye, she pushed me and got herself free, startling me up. She narrowed her gaze like a glaring hawk. Her expression was mixed between misery and anger. Still, she looked heavy by her illness when she coughed, not violently to my relief.

“You don’t really understand, Vidar…” she then said intensely, though her husky voice revealed how truly unhappy she was. “If I become a free person, where will I go? I have nothing. I have no home, no family. I’ve got nothing…”

“But you have your own reasons,” I replied, stepping up. I felt suddenly more like a giant who looked down on a small creature.

She bit hard on her jaws like she fought back against the words that wanted to be spoken. She tensed herself up, readying herself to fight back if she must despite her illness.

“You ran away from home, didn’t you?” I asked the first question, which I both assumed and figured it out. “You ran away from your master. Why?”

“It’s not your business to know,” she growled.

“You ran for freedom,” I concluded hastily. I took my chance to approach her closer. I took only two steps closer because I sensed Saga would only step backward.

“No…” she bent her head down, biting her lips hard as she closed her eyes intensively. Her fists clenched harder.

“You did not run for freedom?” I got surprised to hear her answer. I assumed it too soon. But I sensed there was a major reason why she ran away from her master. Her reason must be very personal.

I stepped more steps closer toward her until I was close enough to reach my hand and touch her shoulder. Again, she was hasty to act and nudged my hand off her shoulder with her right hand. Now I realized how deeply personal her reason was. Although, I laid my hand on her cheek instead, feeling the brief warmth. 

“I ran away… because I found out a lie,” she spoke, still holding her eyes shut. She then coughed without warning, this time harsher as it sounded like she was close to puke up her lungs. Fortunately, it lasted only for a short moment. Yet, she proved to stay determined to avoid looking on me.

“What kind of lie?” I inquired her, whispering though in concern.

“I found out that my real mom is out there somewhere,” thin tears appeared on the corners of her shut eyes. Her husky voice got broken by the incoming sobbing that she fought to hide. “She abandoned me when I was newborn. She did it because of her shame for having a daughter instead for a son. I don’t know which Realm she is from or what species she is. Therefore… I’m not an Asynja of the Æsir.”

Instantly, I gave her a smooth hug, holding her close. Saga buried her head in my chest, seeking the beating pulses from my spark. I stroked her hair while I cooed softly, comforting her. But still, she didn’t let a single noise of sobbing to be heard.

Saga dried the tears from her face, shaking her head off like she wanted not to show any weakness in front of her new master. Master. Why did I dare to think on the word? No, she shall not see me as her new master. No, she shall see me as her guardian. Besides, I needed her to find my way back to Earth and save my Autobots. Thus, I must do the most crucial part. I had to break myself free from my wolf curse.

I covered the girl with my robe, giving her the safety and warmth she needed. Just then, she glanced on the fire, almost hypnotized on the dancing flames. Even if she looked on the flames, she held one of her ear pressed on my chest, listening on my beating spark. The tiny tears glittered like glass that flowed down her cheeks.

“I wonder if mom is still alive, for I have never known about my parents,” Saga spoke sad. I sensed her deep desire to find her mother and learn the truth from her. “I need to know what species I am and what Realm mom and I belong to.”

It created an idea inside my mind all suddenly.

“Saga, if you really wish to see her,” I expanded my open hand before us, looking through the flames as I continued. “Look through the flames and fantasize. Tell me what you see.”

Saga gazed through the flames, seeking for changes from the lifeful flames. Even I did look through them, creating pictures inside my mind as imagination burst into life. I saw my home world, Cybertron. It was flourishing in its glorious solar cycles, full of life and wonders. I saw how it would’ve been if the great war hadn’t erupted. But what happened in the past cannot be undone. Then Earth appeared inside the flames. I saw its life. I saw the humans, followed by cetaceans. The cetaceans had always fascinated me, especially how highly intelligent, gorgeous and mighty they were.

“I can see mom,” Saga’s voice pulled me back from the world of illusions to reality. “I see us hugging together. I can see how beautiful she is. I wonder though…”

“What is it you’re wondering about?” I studied her, noticing a frown that appeared on her forehead. She seemed to be deeply thoughtful within her thoughts and questions she bore inside.

“I’m wondering about you, Optimus,” she fixed her gaze at me, frowning in uncertainty. “I’d like to know what happened to you before you got your wolf curse.”

“Well…” I frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember. To my disappointment, I could not remember much except the moment when Grídr grabbed my arm and burned me there. I hadn’t forgotten the pain that nearly took my life to an end though. I raised my right arm up, pulling it out from my robe’s sleeve and revealed the burned wound. “I’m sorry to tell you but I cannot remember what really happened to me. All I can recall is my arm got burned in Grídr’s grasp…”

Saga grimaced a disappointed expression before she looked on my branded arm. But then she lied her head on my chest again, yawning largely. She blinked several times in a row as if she got dust in her eyes. It was the bright light from the fire that made her sleepy. And as expected, I yawned directly after her. Of course, yawning was contagious. The girl slumbered fast asleep again, breathing slowly, only to get disturbed by another force of coughing. Her body was overheated, both sweating and shivering slightly. The hypothermia she suffered earlier began to show its aftermath.

Just then, I felt sleepy too. My eyes itched in a stinging ache that was caused by the sharp lights from the flames. My exhaustion kicked in, demanding me to go back and sleep. However, as it happened, I noticed on Saga’s tattooed wrist lying close into her. It was shaking. I spontaneously grabbed her wrist, yet sympathetically like she was very delicate. It stopped the shaking jerks. But on that sparkbeat, Saga mumbled something inaudible that I didn’t catch up.

It was then I thought on Saga’s discovery of the lie she faced to know. That her real mother abandoned her as a newborn infant because of shame… it was a certain action that I considered as unfair and irresponsible.

_She needs to find her mother,_ I suddenly rethought everything. _I can’t stop her. She deserves to find the truth. Also, she won’t survive long without anyone would see she’s a slave on free foot._

“Vidar, don’t go away…” just then she muttered dozily.

I shook my head slightly with an inclined grin, rising up one eyebrow. At first, I still found it annoying that she kept calling me as Vidar. But then, as I thought on it, the name seemed to fit me somehow. It sounded funny to say but it would come handy in use.


End file.
